Good morning 🙂

Very quiet here and this morning the forest fire smoke is thinner.
The winds will bring in more smoke soon so I have been out watering while it's still nicer.

Haven't made my bed yet or gotten dressed or brushed my hair. LOL ;D
Guess I should do that next.
Want to wash my laundry today, will only be 2 loads.
Probably should cook some food. I have hard boiled eggs but maybe should eat more.
Have a watermelon and some plums.
My new jeans are way too long, should hem them since I don't like cuffs 'cause they get full of dirt and stuff.
Tomorrow is trash pick up day.
We are allowed to put out the big green wheelie bin plus an additional 7 other trash cans or bags or boxes or bundles.
Really depressing to only have out the few bags of kitchen/household trash that I gather weekly when he could easily find so much more.
The air in the house smells bad now from the wildfire smoke. Need to wash all the drapes and curtains. Will wait till the fires are all out before I do that.

Anyways, How's your day going? 😀

Hi Karl 🙂
WAY TO GO! on borrowing the book and dish washing! 😀

Good luck with finding your motivation and rent money.

Still dealing with depression and lack of motivation, but at least I have some accomplishments to log.

I went out this afternoon to get some food, and on the way home I stopped at the library. I picked up two movies and, and also re-borrowed the book "Stuff", since I'd had to return it before I was finished, the first time.

I set the timer and focused on 15m of hand-washing dishes, since I had several items that I didn't want to leave for the next full dishwasher load.

I've just realized that I have six pieces of hardware in front of me that are not working as they should, but I don't know when I'll find time and any necessary expertise to do something about them.

I'm going to make sure I have enough money to pay the credit card bills, and if so, take care of them tonight. I'll still need to figure out where to get the money for the rent, and how to get it delivered on time.

Thank you Dianne and Roxie 😀 (((hugs)))

Been enjoying myself today. Playing, singing and remembering long ago happy times. 😉
There are a lot of really bad memories I could recall but I would rather spend my time thinking about all the good times I've had and the nice/kind people I have known.
The worst part about growing older is that too many dear people in my life have passed on.
But as long as I remember them, their smiles, their voices, they will live forever in my heart. 😀

Barb ~ I, too, depended on my husband to do the *guy* stuff. It is still scary for me but what a sense of accomplishment when I learn to handle things myself!

And good for you to do only what you want to do this week. Your hoarder takes you for granted big time. This week is *Tillie Time*!!! 🙂

Tillie, good for you for putting your foot down HARD. 😀

Good morning 🙂

Well, my hoarder did nothing again this weekend.
He was pouting a lot because I put my foot down HARD when he wanted to bring in 3 more feral kittens.
The cat care all falls on my shoulders and I cannot take on any more.
I am tired, very very tired.

Anyways....
I have fed all the cats their canned food breakfast.
Now to make my bed, get showered and dressed.
Scoop the litter boxes. Put down fresh water & fill kibble bowls.

Going to be very selfish this week and only do the things that I want to do and nothing more.
There is some painting I want to do in my pantry area since I have some paint in here already.

Monday, the start of a whole new week! ;D

Tillie, I hope your hand-holding endeavor goes well!

Today I am mainly enjoying having a computer again.

Good morning 🙂
Been up since 5:00am not my idea but just couldn't get back to sleep.
Cats have all had their breakfast.

My To-Dos for today are...
Stir a can of paint.
Clean the kitchen.
Wash my hair.
Hold my hoarder's hand and talk him through tossing out the garbage heaped up near the back porch.

Hoping to take a nap after lunch so I can stay awake for the Sunday ONLINE SUPPORT GROUP at 5:00pm PST.
Hope to see you all there! 😀

Hi all,
My workweek went pretty well, although I am still not yet on a regular schedule. We are short staffed and three people are doing the work of six. They are supposed to hire two new people next week, but we will still be short one person. But the work will be divided between us, so that won't be so bad.
I meant to clean yesterday but spent most of the day dealing with a clogged pipe. It is always discouraging when you make a bigger mess than you already had.
I started to panic at first. I have usually had a male partner or landlord that could deal with this for me. I did do what I needed to do on my own. Yeah, me!
Today is a gorgeous day here. Cool and sunny.I will go to church (I need to be with my friends who give me support.)
This afternoon I will tackle the laundry and cleaning that did not get done yesterday and pay some bills. If I don't get the water bill paid, they will shut it off. I have the money, I am just disorganized.
i am so organized and disciplined at work. But I seem to fall apart when I get home.
Hope you all are doing well. I'm glad MayMay is keeping in touch with us, letting us know how she is doing in LA.

Thanks Dianne! 😀

Wow Roxie, you have been busier than those little critters chewing their way into your house!

SOO happy you're back and with all that wonderful news! {{{HUGS}}}

MayMay, have so much fun!!!

Can't wait to hear details of your hoard clean-up. 🙂

Good morning 🙂
Just finished feeding the cats.
Soon I will make my bed, get dressed, brush & braid my hair, wash my face & brush my teeth.
Need a few things from the grocery store.
My hoarder has been grocery shopping a LOT lately and he has his shelf in the fridge stuffed full and the fridge freezer totally packed too with "his" food.
My shelf is rather bare right now.
I have my list all made out.
It is sorta dark outside. The Yosemite "Rim" fire smoke and low clouds.
The temperature is in the 50s.
Great kind of day for him to do some outside work on the carport hoard. 😀

Happy Saturday! 😀

Hi Roxie
Of course we missed you! 😀
WOW! you sure have been busy!!!!
Way TO GO! on getting so much accomplished! 😀

On Monday, with no functioning computer, I went to Best Buy and bought a new tower. They kept it to install a better video card and power pack. I did not get the computer until Friday. I know they were diligent and qualified to do the work, but there were multiple issues with regard to the video card and power pack so I had to trade back the original computer, pick another, then they had to try various things. Long story, now I have a great working computer with ample oomph to play my video games. The old one I left at the shop for them to figure out what happened and see how much it will cost to fix it. I signed up for a Geek Squad thingee so I can get three computers serviced under the same contract, which is great.

Thanks Tillie,
Yeah I will definitely keep posting while I'm in L.A. 🙂

BYE! MayMay 😀
Have fun and keep safe.
L.A. does have internet service so you can drop us a line now & then.

Hi everyone! 😀

Sorry I haven't been posting a lot lately. I've just been super busy getting ready to go to Los Angeles. I just finished packing for the trip; and now I'm getting ready to go to the fire station. Tomorrow we are all going to meet at the fire station and then head to the airport together. And because I'm so excited for the trip, I have decided to spend the night at the fire station. 😀

Good morning all you sleepy heads. ;D

Looks overcast here today but it's just all the smoke.
That fire near Yosemite is huge and still totally out of control.

My To-Dos for today...
Go outside and water everything.
Tidy up inside and get ready for the weekend.
Hoping that maybe this weekend my hoarder will do something/anything around here.
His goat trails through his hoard have been getting smaller & smaller.
I am not a big woman and I have to turn sideways to squeeze through these areas.
Just looking at all the stuff I can see that a lot of it is just trash/garbage that he could easily toss.
The big wheelie trash bin has only had the few bags of kitchen trash that I have tossed the last few months.
Really would like him to fill it up with some of his garbage.
Also, I can see some of the more recent "new"
items he had to have & brought home just sitting out there getting dirty, cat peed on and ruined. Like the big box of 112 Star Trek books. Lots of "new" clothes and shoes. Electronics and tools and so much more general assorted stuff.

He is acting like a squirrel gathering nuts to survive the long winter ahead.

My mission this weekend will be to get out there with a big trash can and get him to fill it with empty bottles/cans, empty packaging, old papers and anything else that is just rubbish he has put off tossing due to simple laziness.
Just one trash can is all I ask even though there is enough to fill many many more.
This is just the area of the carport right off the back porch. An area we need clear to walk through to reach the back yard. An area we need clear in case of fire or other emergencies.

What projects are you planning for the weekend? 😀

I've had several days of not getting to sleep before 5am, so last night's 2am bedtime was progress. Unfortunately, the phone woke me up at 10:20. I decided to stay up, but apparently I still have a sleep deficit since I caught myself dozing off again later in the day.

I was up early enough to make it to my Thursday lunch group, and I even had a discount coupon. More details about that in the next chat. On the way home I picked up some food (into the fridge even if it doesn't need it; I don't want to give the fruit flies a chance). I've paid the overdue power bill and booked a hotel room for an upcoming trip.

End-of-month financial stuff is currently problematic; I'll have to review my options.

The air quality today started out "O.K."
But then the area started filling up with thick smoke.
The day turned dark. Orange colored. The sun red.
This smoke is from the fire burning near Yosemite.

Only good thing is that it has a nice pine wood scent. ;P

Good morning Tillie!

Cats do have a way of changing even the best laid plans haha. I miss having a cat or cats... dang.

I love this... Without the right amount of sleep our brains don't function properly and we lose our decision making skills. Our nervous systems get off and we tend to hurt ourselves and also break things.

I will keep that in mind, yes. I think I will take a nap as well... and tackle these darn important bags and boxes from the Big Move.

Hello everyone, good morning ali!

My time management estimates are off in the opposite way, I overestimate jobs... like what I think will take 30 minutes may take 10 or 15. We are so funny!

Tell her we do not roll our eyes hahaha. My daughter is still out of town and won't be home until the beginning of next month. She is very supportive but so busy that I hate to bother her with anything although I need to take advantage of whatever time she can give me.

I put off the doctors... I need to make a list and get it done. Its overwhelming when I put it on paper but I can't put it off forever, good grief.

I'm doing better at letting things go it seems, I have to make myself leave things alone once they are designated. I found myself wanting to go back through the boxes but did well at making myself say no.

I am so excited that my sister is coming to help me and my daughter and granddaughter will help me too - working together will be fun and efficient and I expect to get a lot done that weekend, then have a yard sale soon after that. Wow... I can hardly believe it after all these years of holding on.

I thought I had plenty of actual furniture but I need a few more pieces and then everything will have a place and I will have a place for everything, also very exciting! Its been a while since I have had my own place to do as I wish with my own space. I am able to relax more too which is important.

I have looked at the more urgent bags and boxes enough now I need to get moving with those... much to throw out I am sure.

Have a great day everyone and I will be in chat off and on today and night.

Hugs!

Good morning everybody! 😀

Here is one of my favorite sites

ALL RECIPES

Taking today off.
Yesterday my body was so tired it felt like I was walking under water.

Tried to sleep in this morning but the cats had other plans for me. 😉
Will take a nap sometime today.

Without the right amount of sleep our brains don't function properly and we lose our decision making skills. Our nervous systems get off and we tend to hurt ourselves and also break things.

Have a good one, TTYL 🙂

My time management estimates are so off. What I think will be a 30 min project ends up being over 2 hrs. I need to take my time estimates & multiply by 4 or more. But the important thing was I finished & I was proud of myself for that.

Repeat to self. " The time is NOW. Breath In, Breath Out, Move On." (Thank You Jimmy Buffett).

My daughter stopped by to take me for a Doctors appt & ask what I did with "the stuff". I said it was in the
1. designated place - shelves in closet ( what a concept)
2. trash
3. donate bag

Then I said I was thinking about putting my jewelry in my jewelry box. That got me an eye roll from daughter.

Also got discharged from the surgeon but still need to be careful with lifting. Next need to see additional Doctors about my painful varicose veins, plus back & knee problems. Now that I have met my deductible I need to get all my pains checked out.

Mare, I'm doing well at letting things go. I just have such an embarrassing amount of unnecessary objects. The bigger challenge for me is figuring out where to put what I keep. Actually recognizing that & asking for help
& suggestions is helping me to become better organized. Tillie, thank you for your logical, organized brain & recommendations. And thanks to everyone for their unconditional support.

Karl, adding any kind of liquid to a slow cooked braised meat will keep it from drying out. Beer works well with Pork. You can also add wine, soup, broth. Just remember the liquid will affect the flavor & seasoning & some if those liquids will be salty so you may need to adjust your seasonings.

After 5 am here & I am still awake although I have dozed off several times.I really need to get on a better sleep schedule. Another Goal to work towards.

Repeat to self. "The time is Now. Now go to sleep."

There was some liquid from the meat juice, but it would have been better if I'd added water to the pot.

Nothing done today.

Wow ali you are doing so wonderfully! Its good to hear and I am having the same experience going through boxes and finding things I had entirely forgotten about hahaha. I am doing fairly well with letting things go... my neighbor came over and took some of my throwaway things, too funny to see that... and I did take back 2 small items but it was silverware I needed.

Do let me know when you are online for chat, I love doing the 15 minute challenges with you and Karl too.

I almost told Karl to add some liquid but I forgot and I think it turned out well but I need to ask him, too.

Thanks to Mare & Karl for the buddy support last night. It took many 15 min sessions but all clothes & towels that were stacked in piles in the hall are now folded & in their proper places. What a unique ideas. A regular home for objects so you can find them again. And along the way I filled a bag of trash & another bag of donations. Also found items I had not seen in yrs. Clearing away piles of stuff is like a personal time capsule.

Karl, how was your roast pork. Occurred to me later neither of us told you to add some water or other liquid to the pot. I bet it turned out great.

I have lots more to clear but at least I finished one goal. Baby Steps.

You're welcome MayMay hahaha.

Tillie I love hearing about your days I wish we lived closer together so we could have coffee and tell stories.

Barb it takes time to get acclimated to working again, it will happen but certainly not overnight... eat well, rest and things will fall into place eventually. My good vibes are coming your way!

I know what you mean about the storage unit, I had one for over 10 years and just recently my son-in-law emptied it and put everything in his warehouse and he says there is plenty of room for me to work on the boxes and other items. I cleaned it out once and took a truck load of trash to the dump and I am anxious to get it done but I need help so my sister is coming in three weeks to do it with me... I also have a lot of my mother's things that I haven't even looked at since she passed away.

Things seem to pile up but I am feeling more motivated and excited to get it all done... my daughter and granddaughter will help too. I will give as much to the family (kids and grandkids) as I can, have a yard sale, sell the better things on eBay and let it all, for the most part, go except for what will comfortably fit in my small house.

I do have a basement but its damp so I don't want to use it for storage of any kind. My goal is to have nothing other than whats in the house, I plan to get a few bookcases and a china cabinet for items I want to keep and display but that is going to have to be it, I am so tired of the monkey on my back and the weight around my neck!

Being here has been a huge help. There aren't words to express my gratitude and how much everyone here helps keep me focused and motivated, its like a miracle.